Golf club



v May 1, 1951 v c. s, MLLGAN 2,550,846

GOLF CLUB Filed Juy 14, 1948 a sheetssneet s Patented May 1, '1951 2,550,846 GOLF .CLUB

Charles Stanley Milligan, Hamilton, Ontario,

' Canada Application July 14, 1948, Serial No. 38,667 In Great Britain July, 1948 (c. zra-77) 6 Claims.

The present invention relates to golf clubs, and more particularly to golf clubs which impart a spin to the golf ball at impact by utilizing air currents developed by the particular shapings of the golf clubs.

`consideration has been given to aerodynamic laws in the past as it has been proposed to streamline the shaft and/or the head of the club to reduce the air` resistance to movement of theclub but, so far as I am aware, the prior designers of golf clubs have not appreciated or at least have not taken advantage of the fact that aerodynamic forces of substantial magnitude are developed by a golf club as it moves into contact with the ball. At impact, the club h ead may be travelling at up to about 126 miles per hour, i. e. 184.8 feet per second, and it has long been recognized that the club meets with considerable air resistance at speeds of this order. Objects of this invention are to provide golf clubs with heads of such shape as to utilize the air currents developed by the rapidly moving club head to impart a spin to the ball. Objects are to provide golf clubs having heads of novel shape which reduce the air resistance to high speed travel of the club head and which develop air currents which rush past 'the ball to impart a spin to the same as it leaves the face of the club head. More specifically, objects are to pro- 'vide club heads which are relieved by streamlined recesses atthe top or at the bottom surfaces of the head to develop air currents over or beneath a ball to impart a back spin or a top spin respectively.

These and other objects and the advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following specification when taken with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary front elevation of a driver embodying the invention;

Figs. 2 and 3 are, respectively, a perspective view of the bottom of the driver; and a vertical section through the same on line 3-3 of Fig. l; Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the head of a brassie embodying the invention;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the same; V

Fig. 6 is a vertical section through the brassie on line '-t of Fig. 4;

Fig. '7 is av fragmentary front elevation of a driver having a sole plate which is shaped to impart the desired spin to the golf ball;

Fig. 8 is a section on line 8--3 of Fig. 7

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary front elevation of a brassie having a top plate in which the shallow groove is formed;

Fig. 10 is a section on line Illlil of Fig. 9;

Fig. 11 is a front elevation of an iron club provided with a top recess for imparting back spin to the ball; and

Fig. 12 is a section on line i2--l2 of Fig. 11.

In Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing, the reference numeral i identifies the head of a driver having a shaft 2 which may be of conventional circular` cross-section cr may be streamlined to reduce air resistance. The lower surface of the club head i is provided with a relatively wide and shallow groove 3 which is streamlined to avoid turbulence in the air current through the same when the club head is moving at high speed, i. e. the groove ilares smoothly inwardly from its inlet to a region of minimum width at about the center of the lower surface of the head l and then fiares smoothly to an exit at the rear of the club head which is preferably somewhat wider than the entrance to relieve compression and insure the quicker dispersion of the air under compression. The axis or center line of the groove 3 is, of course, in line with the intended path of travel of the golf ball. The club head may be, and preferably is, provided with conventional metal .sole plates ll, ll' at opposite sides of .the groove 3. As Vshown in Fig. 3, a driver having a head E provided with a groove 3 may have its striking face at a slightly steeper angle than normal to increase the air compression above the ball.

The method of operation of the novel driver will be apparent from a consideration of Fig. 3. A lower portion of the ball is in line with the groove 3 at the instant of impact and top spin is imparted to the ball by the air current, indicated by arrows a, which flows through the groove 3 and constitutes -a drag or frictional resistance to forward movement of the bottom of the ball.

The drag action is developed even though the ball may be topped by the player, and 'it is supplemented by the air compressed against the upper portion of the striking surface 5.

For a brassie or spoon, having a head on a shaft 8, back spin may be imparted to the ball by aerodynamic action by providing a streanlined groove or recess 9 in the upper surface of the club head 'l. As shown in Fig. 6, a back spin will be imparted to the ball by the air current, indicated by arrows b, which results from the high speed travel of the club head 'l and flows over the top portion of the ball.

It is convenient and economical to provide the spin-imparting grooves in shaped plates of metal,

plastic materials or wood which are secured to the main body of a club. Such shaped plates may be employed in the manufacture of new clubs, or may be used to convert existing clubs into embodiments of this invention.

In the case of a driver, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8, the body portion of -a club head lt on a shaft l I has a flat lower sur-face to which the fiat upper surface of a sole plate l2 is secured by screws l3, the lower surface of the sole plate being provided with a shallow streamlined groove M. In like manner, as shown in Figs. 9 and 10, a plateV i,= with a shallow streamlined groove iii may be cured by screws I 'I to the headA .18 ofv a brassie.

As shown in Figs. 11 and 12, the invention may be applied to an iron club head iQ bycutting or otherwise shaping the top surface to. provideV a4 shallow groove 29. The forward edge ZJ, of the top surface of the club head is preferably parallel' to the lower edge 22 ofthe striking face, i. e. the depth of the strikingface at the hosel is made equal to thedepthat the toeof the club. This relationship affordsthe desired aerodynamic fiow over the top surface of the ball andhas the further advantage that the parallel arrangement of the topl and bottom ed-ges 2d and 22 facilitates the proper alignment of the club head with respect to the ball.

It is tobe understood that the invention is not limited to the particular` constructions herein shown and described, and that modifications which may occur toV those. familiar with the design and construction. of golf clubs fall within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A golf club comprising a shaft anda striking head, said striking head having upper and lower surfaces, and one of said surfaces being provided with a recess in line with the desired path of travel of a ball for establishing an air current to impart a spin to the bail; said recess being streamlined with a minimum width. and depth at an. intermediate section, and the exit of the recess at the rear of the. club headbeing wider than the entrance of the recess.

2. A golf club as recited in claim 1, wherein said striking head comprisesa body portion having a flat surface, and -a shaped plate havingV a. flat surface secured to the flat surface of said body portion, the opposite surface of said shaped plate being provided with said streamlined recess.

3. Agolf club head as recited in claim 2, wherein said plate is secured to said body portion to form the lower surface of the club.

4. A golf club head as recited in claim 2, wherein said plate is secured to said body portion to form the upper surface of the club.

5. A golf club comprising a shaft and a striking head, said striking head having a body portion with upper and lower surfaces, one of said surfaces being fiat, and a shaped plate having a fiat surface secured to the fiat surface of said body portion, the opposite surface of the shaped plate being provided; with a recess extending in line with thedesired path of travel of a ball for establishing an air current to impart a spin to the ball, said recess being streamlined with a minimum width and depth at an intermediate section, and the exit of the recess at the rear of the club head being wider than the entrance of the recess.

6. A golf club comprising a shaft and a striking head with an upper and a lower surface, the upper surface being provided with a streamlined recess extending in line with the desired path of travel of a ball for establishing an air current to impart a back spin to the ball, said recess having a minimum width and depth at' an intermediate section, and the exit ofthe recess at the rear of the club head being wider than the entrance of the recess.

CHARLESl S. MILLIGAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 780,776 Brown Jan. 24, 1905 1,537,711 Spaiford May 12, 1925 1,913,821 Stumpf June 13, 1933 2,041,676 Gallagher May 19, 1936 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Datel 15,597 Great Britain 1904 340,579 Great Britain. Jan. 5, 1931 

